A Different Legacy

by you know not

What would Earth turn out like if the world renown hero was never around? What if the blue blur was actually a yellow blur with two tails, a master mind, and gadgets at his disposal? What if this yellow blur happened to be the one who fought against threats to the world on a daily basis? This is how the world would be if Miles Prower was the hero instead of the sidekick. AU.

6. Super and Hyper P3

A/N: I could give you all the details and reasoning for why this took this long to post, but you don't really care about any of that. Well, here's hoping this chapter was worth the wait for you guys.

Disclaimer: It's obvious I don't own the franchise, or else I would actually try to make something good with it.

Chapter 6: Super and Hyper P3

They made it. They could hardly believe it, but they made it. As soon as they came out on the other end of the volcano, Miles and Amy saw seven very familiar gems displayed near an altar in front of them. The altar itself was on an entirely separate piece of land, connected only by a suspension bridge to the island. In their excitement, the pair ran across the bridge as fast as they could, paying no mind to what appears to be a giant green Chaos Emerald in the center of the altar surrounded by the seven Chaos Emeralds they've been searching for.

When they were just a few feet away from the Emeralds, the ground rumbled before a cloud of dirt burst into the air, halting them in their tracks and blocking their view. As the Earth-made-cloud settled down, Knuckles' silhouette came into view just before his red body could be seen. He stood over a hole he popped out from with his eyes narrowed, and his fists ready for some action. The foreigners across from him tensed up, but did not take any battle positions.

"I'm impressed," said Knuckles, keeping his guard up the whole time. "I didn't think you would make it all the way here. Now leave!"

"Can't you just give us a break already!" said Amy with a pout.

The echidna threw a punch between the two as his response. Miles and Amy skidded from either sides of the fist. They each pulled out their weapons, and took their stance. All three combatants were in a triangle formation in a two on one fight.

"I made a mistake in underestimating you two before," said Knuckles as his eyes shifted between his opponents. "But not this time. This time I'll be sure to keep the Emeralds and Robotnik safe from the likes of you."

"Robotnik?" said Miles in disbelief. "The guy you were talking about from before is Dr. Robotnik?"

"How can you trust someone like him?!" shouted Amy with clenched teeth. "He's the bad guy here. Not us!'

"So you say," retorted Knuckles. "But I have yet to see him do any act of evil. You two on the other hand keep trying to take the Chaos Emeralds from their rightful place, and I'll bet you came to this island for the Master Emerald itself."

"We need them to leave the island," Amy and Miles said simultaneously before the fox continued with. "And we don't even know what the Master Emerald is."

"Yeah, like I'm suppose to believe that," scoffed Knuckles. "If you know about the Chaos Emeralds and came to this island after already having found them, then you must know about the Master Emerald and how it can control the seven Chaos Emeralds because of its limitless power."

"Knuckles, listen," said Miles, taking a few cautious steps near the altar. "We don't want to fight you, and we don't want your Master Emerald. Everything that Dr. Robotnik has said to you is a lie. He's the one-"

"When are you going to learn that no matter what you say, I'm not going to fall for it?" Knuckles snapped before the other boy could finish.

"Then how about we just beat some sense into you?!" Amy's voice rang out as she charged forward with her hammer in hand.

The echidna barely managed to dodge the oncoming swing by pulling himself backwards before another one came at him, forcing him to jump away to gain some distance from the hedgehog. As he growled and was about to make his counter, a ring flew passed his eyes by a few inches. Knowing where the attack came from, he set his sight on the orange-yellow lad and ran towards him. Unfortunately in his rush, he forgot about the projectile and how it comes back to its owner after being thrown. This literally gave Knuckles a headache once the ring collided with the back of his skull, and stopped him in his track as he tried to rub the pain away.

Miles then came up to him in an instance, and whipped his tails at him. The hit was followed by Amy bringing her hammer down, but Knuckles had enough sense to leap over her head and land behind her. When the girl turned to swing her weapon, it made contact with the red boy's punch, causing both opposing forces to slide back from the shockwave of the impact. As soon as the aftermath of their attacks connecting wore off, they glared right at each other and got back in their fighting stance. That's about the time Knuckles realized that the two tailed fox was no longer next to the girl, and was in fact heading towards the shrine where the Emeralds were at.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Knuckles as he gave chase. He was once again forced to come to a halt, however, when the hammer-wielding girl slammed her weapon down in front of him. "Get out of my way."

It wasn't long before Miles was in reach of the seven Chaos Emeralds when he heard the battle continued on behind him. As soon as he was about to grab hold of them, he heard his friend cry out in pain. Turning, he saw the pink girl slammed against a giant rock with her hammer no longer in her reach. She braced herself against the rock as Knuckles began to close in on her.

"Amy, hang on!" said Miles before glancing between his friend that's in need of his help, and the Chaos Emeralds that he was so close to regaining hold of.

He put his ring away and then concentrated as best as he could to use the Emeralds' powers, knowing full well that he didn't have to be in direct contact with them for this to work. All seven of the gems glowed brightly until they blended together in one flash of light that nearly blinded all nearby. Miles' fur was then glowing a golden-yellow once the light from the Emeralds died down. He wasted no time as he flew and tackled Knuckles, whose eyes were still readjusting from the flash of light moments ago. Knuckles threw a punch at him, but the super powered fox was ready and caught the fist. Miles then quickly used his free hand to grab the wrist connected to the same hand that he'd caught, and spun around at a high speed before tossing his foe at the steps of the altar.

Amazing enough, there was no crater made from the impact. Knuckles was, however, feeling extremely dizzy as he stood back up and tried to keep his balance. Once everything stopped spinning, he glared at the glowing fox that was staring back with deadly serious eyes. He tried to burrow underground to attempt a sneak attack, but Miles took a step back and immediately punched him in the face as soon as he saw it. The echidna was then flat on his back as he slid until his head bumped into one of the pillars surrounding the altar.

"That's not going to work this time," said Miles with an edge of anger to his voice. "You caught me off-guard last time, but now I'm ready for you."

Knuckles gave a grunt as he stood back up. "Bet you think you're pretty special, huh?" he said, ignoring the narrowed eyes directed at him. "Being able to control all that power at will. But you should know that you're not the only one that's able to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds."

The red boy extended his arms outwards as though to summon something. The Emeralds glowed once again, just like when Miles drew their powers into himself. Except this time when the flash died down there was an echidna radiating magenta where his once red quills were. All signs of injury and fatigue were gone as he smirked at the surprised glowing fox.

"No way," exclaimed Amy. "He can do it, too?"

"Let's see how well you handle yourself now," said Knuckles before he dashed towards the fox.

He threw a right jab that was just narrowly dodged before throwing another and another until he smashed both fist into the ground, forcing the golden-yellow boy to jump back at the last second. The impact was so strong that Amy could feel her whole body shake despite the distance she was watching the fight from. Miles started spinning his whole body frontwards into a ball with his two tails somehow still showing, then dashed forward while still shaped as he was. However, Knuckles countered by holding the palm of his hands in front of himself, and began a power-struggle between himself and the glowing ball of fur that was pushing against him. The magenta echidna lifted the still spinning two tailed ball up, and tossed him forward. Miles uncurled himself before he made contact with the ground, but the crater he made while landing on his own two feet was evidence of the effort that took.

"Not bad," said Knuckles, truly impressed by his opponent that was righting himself after the rough landing. "You seem to be able to handle yourself pretty well. But that doesn't mean you still stand a chance."

"I tried to explain ourselves over and over again, but you just won't listen," Miles all but growled. "We didn't come here for a fight, but you've attacked us at every turn," his fist clutched tighter as they shook in frustration. "We were just going to leave as soon as we got the Chaos Emeralds back, but that doesn't seem like an option... at least not until you finally see Dr. Robotnik for who he really is. I'm sorry, but you've been backing me into a corner since we've first got here. And now my back's completely against the wall."

Before the super powered echidna could retort, a fist collided with one of his cheeks. Grunting in irritation, he retaliated by punching his opponent's cheek back in kind. The two Chaos powered up fighters continued trading blow for blow, the whole island shaking between each hit. Between the two of them though, it was clear that Knuckles was the better head-on fighter. Realizing this, Miles jumped back a few distance and brought out his ring again.

The ring was not only its golden color like usual, but it was also surrounded by what looked like a golden flame. He then threw the weapon towards Knuckles at a speed much faster than usual, but stopped it mid-air as the magenta glowing foe went to dodge it. It didn't fall to the ground; it just simply stopped in the air before it even went passed the echidna. Miles has learned since his fight with Robotnik that the ring and him were connected in a way, and the power of the Chaos Emeralds amplified that immensely. He took advantage of the confused look on his opponent's face, and directed the ring at an angle at the same speed as when he threw it moments ago.

At such a short distance at such a high speed, Knuckles couldn't do anything to dodge the powered up ring despite his own power up. The attacks didn't stop there, for the little genius moved his hand swiftly with the ring following his every movement faster than anyone can blink. Every time the native tried to dodge, block, or even attack the flying projectile, Miles would immediately change its direction and have it strike from there. Even if Knuckles was to attempt to charge at the fox, he wouldn't be able to avoid the ring surrounded by a golden flame without constantly looking over his shoulder, and he couldn't afford to take his eyes off his target either. Eventually, the constant assault weighed on him, and he was forced on both his knees before resting his hands on the ground to keep himself from falling anymore.

"Now this time you're going to stay there and listen to what I have to say," said Miles in a firm tone, stopping his attack as he looked at the injured glowing echidna. "And I mean listen! You are not going to ignore what I'm about to say to you. You are going give some actual consideration to what I say."

"You're... much better at this... than I thought" Knuckles panted, glaring up at the other boy. "You can handle yourself well with super... but what about hyper?"

As soon as the question was asked, the Master Emerald glowed, followed by all the Chaos Emeralds. As they all continued to shine brightly, the Chaos Emeralds began to grow bigger. They grew and grew until they were at least half the size of the Master Emerald itself. Then the seven super charged Chaos Emeralds flashed a blinding light more powerful than what Amy or Miles has ever seen them do; so powerful that Amy's eyes hurt despite having covered them. When everything cleared again, Knuckles was standing at attention as though he was never hurt. He still radiated magenta, but it was somehow pulsing faster.

"Miles! The Emeralds!" said Amy as she pointed out the now larger in size gems.

"What happened?" said Miles, unsure what the physical change to the Chaos Emeralds could mean for all of them.

"The Master Emerald gave some of its energy to each of the Chaos Emeralds, causing them to grow in size and power," said Knuckles as though he were teaching a lesson in a classroom. "Super Emeralds if you will. What you've seen up until now were the super forms the Chaos Emeralds enable. But the Super Emeralds go beyond that. They allow one access to a hyper form. But they're so much more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds that it's nearly impossible for anyone to use their powers."

Miles tried to focus on drawing power from the Super Emeralds just like he would the Chaos Emeralds, but found that it was impossible for him just like the echidna said it was for most. In fact, he could feel the energy inside himself depleting much faster than usual. He may be in his super form, but he was also injured due to his scuffle with Knuckles' own super form. The fact that the foe rejuvenated once again when he accessed his hyper form was also unsettling to the fox. He knew he had to end this fight quickly if he were to stand a chance.

The super powered ring was sent flying towards Knuckles once again at the same speed as before, but it literally went through him like he was just a projection. Before even his genius mind could think, Miles felt a sudden pressure digging into his stomach that caused him to let out a wordless scream. Looking down, he saw that the culprit was a fist, then he looked up to see that the image of the magenta adversary was fading away. When the real Knuckles removed his fist and stepped aside, Miles could do nothing but kneel over and clutch his stomach.

'So...so fast,' thought Miles, struggling to think pass the pain. He could swear that he heard Amy shouting his name somewhere in the background. 'I never knew anything could hurt this much when I was in this form. Are the gaps between the Chaos and Super Emeralds really that big?'

The super powered fox ignored the pain as best as he could, and stood up and stared at the hyper powered echidna in defiance. He tried whipping his tails at him, but his assault once again passed right through his target. As the after image began to fade, Miles was pushed so hard from behind that he slid until he collided with a giant rock that exploded on impact. When he dug himself out of the rubble and turned back around, he was punched in the face and nearly sent sailing off the entire island. He tried to attack Knuckles from behind with the ring again, but the item was grabbed and thrown aside before Miles knew it.

Now desperate, Miles charged forward in a full frontal assault. He kept missing no matter how many times or how fast he threw a punch, but in his mindset he figured that he could keep the other guy on the defense as long as the attacks didn't stop. This of course didn't work out so well, for Knuckles backhanded him with only minor force. The fox kept his face turned away as he reached up to touch his stinging cheek.

Then, as fast as he could, Miles swung a fist at Knuckles chest, and he... he actually hit it! He finally landed a hit on the hyper powered echidna... but why wasn't the guy showing any signs of pain? In fact, why was Miles the one grasping his own hand and hollering in undeniable pain?

"That's another difference between the two powers," said Knuckles, seeing the other boy glaring at him, while still holding onto his hurting hand. "You see, in a super state you're almost invulnerable. But in a hyper one...nothing can hurt you. Not just that, but anything that attacks you is hurt instead. As I'm sure you're well aware of by now."

Knuckles then gently placed one hand on Miles forehead, which caused the two tails to scream in pain. It was just a simple touch, but it felt like something horribly indescribable, and it just kept getting worse. His head wasn't being pushed, wasn't being crushed, smacked, or anything of the like, but somehow just having that hyper powered hand on top of him was more agonizing than all the hits that Miles took so far in their showdown. Perhaps it had something to do with how they were keeping in physical contact with each other this time.

A powerful force then came down on the back of the echidna's head, and was shattered while the glowing head itself remained unharmed. Knuckles removed his hand from the golden-yellow lad's head, and turned around to see Amy with a now broken hammer in her hands.

"You know, I'm getting real fed up with getting hit while my back is turned," said Knuckles in a low growl. Amy just stood there in apprehension with nothing but her all but destroyed weapon in her hands, getting ready to swing it like she always does. "Now stay out of this!" he went for an attack, but he surprisingly found himself being held back. "What-the? Hey! Let go!"

Miles had wrapped his arms around Knuckles torso in order to stop his advance on the girl. Though the magenta boy was far stronger, he was put off balance by being constantly pulled back.

"Amy, run!" cried Miles through the pain running through his body by just holding the hyper powered foe back. "Get out of here and run!"

'Did he just...?' thought Knuckles, briefly slowing down his struggle.

"But-" Amy began to argue before being stopped.

"Amy, please!" screamed Miles, the pain getting worse. "I don't know how long I can hold him for! You have to get as far from here as possible and hide!"

Unknown to the two, Knuckles' face gave a look of anger and confusion. This Miles Prower kid was nothing like he imagined him to be. Based off of Robotnik's description of him, he was supposed to be absorbed in taking over the world. He wasn't supposed to care for others, and yet here he was telling his comrade to get out of harm's way, while he was prepared to stay behind and fight a losing battle. Just what could be going through that crazy fox's head at a time like this?

'It's just another attempt to trick me into letting my guard down,' Knuckles speculated. 'Robotnik said Miles was very deceptive, so this has to be another trick of his. Well it won't work! I'll put a stop to him once and for all!'

Knuckles then grabbed Miles wrists and flew off in the sky pass the clouds. The native of the island then swung the foreigner off of himself, but the fact they were flying in the air made it easier for the fox to stop without injuring himself. When Miles focused back on his opponent, he already took noticed of the after image left behind, but it was already too late by then. Knuckles came crashing down on him from above with both fists out. With his back towards the ground and the forced of the hyper echidna pushing him, there was nothing the fox could do but bear through the pain.

Amy was still near the altar when the two boys flew up in the sky. She didn't know how far they went, but it felt like they were taking forever to get back down. Not long after that thought crossed her mind, she saw two figures coming straight down with the clouds being pushed away by their sheer force. She took the liberty of bracing herself behind one of the pillars for the oncoming shockwave that would soon hit the ground. If she had been a few seconds late the force would have cleared her right off the ground.

Peeking around the pillar, she saw a dust cloud just beginning to fade away. Only one figure was standing, but who could it be? She had kept her hope up that her friend was okay, but she was losing it more and more the clearer the shape of the figure became. As soon as everything was in complete view, a few tears came to her eyes.

"No," whispered Amy, for before her very eyes was the still standing strong Knuckles with no bruises of any sorts on him, while Miles was laying in a crater with his eyes closed and his fur back to its normal yellow-orange color. The frightening part was that he didn't seem to be moving.

She observed, while still hidden, Knuckles and the Emeralds returning to their normal state. She then heard a triumphant laugh from above, and looked up to see a round gray mobile hovering closer to the boys. When it got close enough, Amy could see the one inside the transporter was the bald headed, mustache man himself, Dr. Robotnik. True, she's never seen his real face before, but she has seen plenty of his icons that represent his face on the signposts he's left behind on South Island. Not to mention they just established earlier that he was on this island.

"Thank you, Knuckles! Thank you!" yelled Robotnik with glee. He looked below at the inactive fox, and smiled wickedly. "Now that's one less thorn in my side to worry about. I guess I won't have to deal with him getting in the way of my plans after all."

"What are you talking about, Robotnik?" said Knuckles as he stared up at the human flying overhead. Never before has he seen the man act this way. "What plans?"

"Why my world domination plans of course, ho, ho, ho!" Robotnik laughed. The sight of the stunned echidna was almost as enjoyable as the view of the unmoving fox laying in a crater.

"Hold on! you lied to me?" said Knuckles, hurt by the man's betrayal of his trust. That emotional pain soon changed to rage with a growl to his voice as he looked at the fraud like a rabid animal would. "Everything you told me?! Everything you've said?! It was all lies?! How dare you trick me like that!"

"I really do appreciate you removing that two tailed nuisance from the equation," said Robotnik, just before a crane dropped from underneath his flying contraption and snatched the Master Emerald up. "With the power of the Master Emerald, I won't have any need for the Chaos Emeralds since its power is beyond compare."

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Knuckles, jumping on the outside of the carrier and getting ready to smash it. Unfortunately, a high voltage of electricity then surrounded the carrier and ran through his body, forcing him to let go and fall flat on his back.

When he came to, Robotnik was flying away with the giant green jewel in tow. Ignoring the mad doctor's fading laughter, Knuckles turned back to face his defeated opponent. So many emotions were going through his head, but they all had the same drive; get the Master Emerald back. He only had one option at his disposal, and he was going to take it. He walked up to the motionless fox, kneeled down to him before lifting him up, and then...slapped him in the face over and over again.

"Hey! Get up you!" said Knuckles, giving the defenseless boy another slap. "I need you up right now so I ca-"

WHACK

Dropping the fox, Knuckles grabbed a hold of where he was hit on the head, and cried out in pain. Turning around, he saw the pink hedgehog glaring at him with teary eyes, while holding what was left of her weapon in her hands.

"What's the big ide-" Knuckles was whacked on the head again before he could say anything further. "Will you-OW! Stop-OW! I'm trying t-OW! For Pete's sake, let me speak!"

"Why should I? You wouldn't listen to Miles, and now he's..." Amy choked back a sob. She still couldn't believe that he was... "And what do you think you're doing hitting him after everything you just found out?! Don't you have any respect for the d-for the d-d-d..." it was becoming difficult to keep the tears down.

"I'm trying to wake him up!" said Knuckles as though it was the most obvious thing. The girl was then quiet as she stared at him in shock.

"Wake up...?" said Amy with a still dumbfound look. "What do you mean? I thought that he-I thought that you-"

He rolled his eyes as he finally figured out what had the trigger happy girl so upset. "He's only unconscious," said Knuckles, looking back where the fox was still laying. "I only wanted to get the two of you off my island. I had no plans whatsoever of taking things that far no matter how it may have seemed to either of you. Now how about helping me wake your friend up before Robotnik gets away?"

"Why can't you stop him yourself?" said Amy, staring at the back of the echidna's head. "You just beat Miles all on your own, so why don't you just use the Chaos Emeralds and transform and prevent Robotnik from getting away?"

"Because the hyper form takes a lot of physical and mental energy to control," said Knuckles as he turned to face her again. "I can only use it once a week. Not only that, but I can't even enter the super form for a whole day."

"That's too bad," said Miles, surprising the other two as they looked back at him to see him straining to get up. "I don't know if we'll need both our super forms to stop him, but it would have been nice if it was an option."

Amy rushed towards the injured boy, and wrapped her arms around him as she cried out his name in relief and joy. While Miles appreciated the gesture, it wasn't helping with the pain, and made it known through a small grunt. The girl apologized quickly before moving to his side and supporting him up with one of his arms across her shoulders.

"You have yet to cease to surprise me," said Knuckles, smirking in amusement with his arms crossed. "I thought it was going to take a lot longer before you woke up."

"I've taken a lot of beatings in my life. You kind of get used to it," said Miles, just before he almost fell over before Amy caught him in time. "But this is, without a doubt, the worst pain I've ever been in."

"Can you use the Chaos Emeralds in your condition?" said Knuckles with one eyebrow raised. "They should heal you once you transform by using their powers, but it doesn't matter if you can't focus enough to do that."

"Yeah, I should be able to," said Miles, cringing in pain. "Just give me moment."

The young fox closed his eyes and did his best to ignore the pain. As the Emeralds began to glow, he could feel himself getting better already. He slowly removed himself from his companion as the seven jewels got ready to flash. He was once again in his super form as soon as the flashed died down, then quickly grabbed hold of all the Chaos Emeralds and his ring and tucked them away before returning to his previous spot.

"Alright, I'll be back before you know it," said Miles, one hundred percent healed and rejuvenated.

"You're not going anywhere without me!" yelled Amy, glaring at the glowing fox, who jumped back in surprise by her outburst. "The last time you went by yourself in that form is how we got in this mess in the first place!"

"Ac-actually Amy, there's a lot of variables to consider that lead... up to... this..." said Miles, getting nervous the longer the pink hedgehog kept her glare on him. "Never mind."

"Don't think for a moment that I was planning on letting you go by yourself," said Knuckles in a condescending tone. "I am the Guardian of the Master Emerald, so I have to do all I can to protect and retrieve it."

"Fine," Miles sighed before he held their hands in his. "Hang on tight."

Miles flew the three of them in the direction that Robotnik had taken off to, which was luckily a meadow. This meant that there was almost no place for the doctor to hide and, with Miles speed, they would catch up to him even faster than they thought. In fact, they could already see the man with the Master Emerald dangling from his carrier approaching a mech similar to the one that Miles fought back on the Death Egg months ago. Unlike the last one, however, this one's hands actually has fingers instead of spikes on its hands, the limbs seem more flexible, and the entire machine seem to be made out of sturdier stuff. How he managed to build such a thing on an island devoid of the necessary utensils for it was anyone's guess.

Robotnik then released the Master Emerald in front of his giant robotic lookalike. The anthropomorphic trio landed on the ground, facing the two objects and evil scientist.

"Robotnik! Return the Master Emerald to me at one!" demanded Knuckles, shaking his right fist at said person. The man turned his carrier around, and looked at all of them in surprise before showing signs of irritation.

"Sorry, Knuckles, but I'm afraid I still need it to take over the world," mocked Robotnik, causing the echidna to growl lowly. The doctor's eyes then narrowed behind his glasses as he stared at the unexpected fox. "Consider it a way of you making it up to me for failing to eliminate that brat. I have to say Mr. Prower, I never dreamed of seeing you again so soon. I also would have thought someone like you would have thought better than to string along a little girl to such a dangerous place."

"Amy can take care of herself just fine," said Miles, while the girl nodded her head as she glared at the human. "Now leave the Master Emerald, and this island."

"If you think I spent all my time tricking that knucklehead just to leave here empty handed," said Robotnik as he slowly hovered backwards in his craft to his giant robotic suit. The carrier then combined with the top of the other machine before it was sealed at the top to form the head of the body. The scientist's voice then echoed through the intercom of the cockpit. "Then you clearly aren't as clever as I thought."

A giant robotic fist came hurtling towards the three before they split in different direction; Miles flew in the air, while Amy and Knuckles dodged to the opposite side of each other. The super powered fox then tackled the machine, making it stumble back a bit. When Robotnik got the battlesuit steady again, he tried swatting the flying fox as though he were a fly. At that time, Knuckles and Amy charged at both ankles of the machine, making impact with fist and weapon alike. Unfortunately, the two barely scratched the surface.

Getting annoyed, Robotnik pressed a button and released little spiny mines from below the waist of his machine. Unprepared, Amy and Knuckles got caught in several small blasts, and yelled in surprise and pain. Miles became distracted when he heard his friend and ally in trouble, and was caught in one of the mechanical hands. He tried to break away, but it just wouldn't budge for some reason.

"You didn't think I wasn't going to prepare for a situation like this did you," said Robotnik with a sly smile as he watched the struggle. Though the lad appears to be unharmed, he also seemed to be trapped. "I really should be thanking you. If I hadn't been forced to come here, then I never would have found out so much more about the Chaos Emeralds' powers. Now I know how to counter against those that would use them against me," the hand squeezed down harder, causing the glowing fox to glare as he continued to shift around. "The materials I needed for such a task were very hard to come by, and the hours I put into repairing this machine you destroyed was infuriating. That's right. The same machine you destroyed on my Death Egg will be your own destruction as well."

The entire battlesuit soon shook from feet to head. Amy and Knuckles were once again attacking both ankles of the machine. They were relentless in their assault, and actually made a few dents with their attacks as well. This gave Miles an idea.

"Aim for the joints!" shouted Miles. "They should be the weakest area!"

The other two did just that. Knuckles climbed up behind the knee and started pounding away, while Amy went ahead and jumped on the arm that held Miles captive and swung away at the elbow. The leg that was under attack was starting to wear-out, and the hand holding the fox was beginning to loosen. Robotnik was about to crush the hedgehog with his machine's free hand, but luckily Miles was able to slip free and fly Amy and himself out of the way just in time.

Miles then gently set Amy back down on the ground, while Knuckles jumped off of the mechanical Robotnik-lookalike. The machine took a few steps forward, but the damaged leg was wobbling too much to move too far. Miles threw his ring covered in golden flames at the mechanical monster, but it held its palm out to stop the attack. Catching the returning weapon, the fox hovered in the air at same level as the cockpit to the machine. The trio then charged at the machine, which forced them to dodge every time it tried to swipe at them.

Mechanical fist met super powered ones as Miles tried to punch the machine, which was countered by a punch being thrown at the same time by Robotnik's contraption. Neither side was giving either leeway as their test of strength continued, but soon the damaged leg had to be forced in a kneeling condition to prevent the rest of the machine from falling backwards. Robotnik would have used the other hand too, but Miles was proving to be such a challenge that he was forced to use the metal hand to keep a firmer hold on the ground.

"I won't lose to you this time, Fox Boy," said Robotnik as he and said fox continued to push forward against one another. "You have no idea the humiliation I felt at the knowledge of everything I worked so hard towards to accomplish for almost a whole year was ruined because some brat with two tails got lucky! I'll crush you! And then I'll crush that Guardian! Followed by that pink hedgehog! After all, she can take care of herself just fine, can't she?"

Miles knew the man was just trying to push his buttons by mocking his own words about Amy earlier, but that didn't mean it wasn't effecting him in the fight. Though perhaps not in the way Robotnik would have hoped for, for his anger at the man for threatening to hurt his friend aided him in their power struggle. Even before she knew he was the boy from the rumors she was the first person who was ever kind to him, the first who never made fun of him and his two tails, and his first ever real friend. There was no way he was going to let him hurt her.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Robotnik growled lowly to himself. His redesigned creation was being pushed back. It was only by a small amount, but the fact that it was happening at all was unacceptable to him. "Fine... if I can't get rid of you, then I'll make a change of plans and get rid of your friends first."

Tiny spiny mines were once again released below the machine's waist. This time, however, Amy and Knuckles were ready for them. Knuckles quickly dug a tunnel beneath the metal knee that was touching the ground before digging his way up and moving away, so that the mines would roll in the hole and be directly below the knee when they went off. Amy decided on a more simple approach by using what was left of her weapon as a bat to send those mines back where they came from. The knee was soon blown to smithereens, and the mine dispensers were destroyed from the inside from its returned items. Not only that, but the explosions also ruptured the thrusters on the back.

With one less knee keeping his invention steady, Robotnik couldn't use the rest of it to fight off Miles' persistent assault. As soon as the machine started falling on its own back, the golden-yellow fox grabbed the mechanical wrist that was in the air and began to spin around so fast that they looked like blurs. After feeling like he picked up enough speed, and Robotnik was dizzy enough, Miles threw the machine along with its creator far, far away from the island to who knows where.

"You don't think I killed him, do you?" said Miles with hesitation as he slowly set himself back down on the island, and stared off into the distance. "He did survive a fall from space, but he was in a space station at the time."

"I'm sure he's fine," said Knuckles in a bored tone, while waving his right hand in a "who cares" manner.

It wasn't long before the three returned to the shrine and placed the Master Emerald back in the center of the altar. Miles was no longer in his super form and was sighing in relief, just as Knuckles was. Amy made an abrupt cough that caught the attention of the two boys.

"Sooo is there anything you like to say?" said Amy with an innocent looking smile on her face as she looked at the Guardian.

"You can go now," said Knuckles without a second thought.

"Well that's rude," Amy pouted, while crossing her arms.

"It's okay, Amy," Miles reassured as he stared at the back of the echidna with several thoughts going through his mind. "He's just been through a lot today, and is probably on edge about the Master Emerald being stolen again at the moment."

"He could at least say he's sorry," said Amy.

"I'm sorry," said Knuckles, catching the pair off guard. He then let out a sigh before continuing. "I didn't even give you guys a chance to explain yourselves, and caused you a lot of trouble. Not only that, but I was almost responsible for a madman getting away with the very thing I'm sworn to protect."

"It's okay," said Miles with a friendly smile, which was mimicked by Amy beside him. "Everything turned out fine in the end."

"And...thank you," said Knuckles in a uncertain tone, which caught the pair even more off guard. "You could have just as easily ran off with the Master Emerald instead of helping me get it back. I was in no position to stop you in my current state. For that, I am thankful."

"You're very welcome," said Amy with a happy tune to her voice. "If you need help with anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

"There is one favor that I have to asks you," said Knuckles, causing the two to blink their eyes at him before turning to each other before turning to him again. "After you safely leave the island, scatter the Chaos Emeralds across the world once again."

"What?!" said Amy in shock. "You still don't trust Miles with them after everything that just happened?"

"It's okay, Amy," said Miles with his head lowered. "I think I understand."

"But-" Amy tried to say before being interrupted.

"These things are unbelievably powerful when they're together," said Miles, smiling at several of his firsthand experiences with them. "Maybe they were never meant for one person to keep. Besides, I've been relying on them too much lately. I grew too confident with them, thinking that nothing could hurt me," he then nodded towards the echidna. "Then I met Knuckles, and that all changed."

"Are you sure about this," said Amy with worry.

"Positive," said Miles with a voice that said it's something that has to be done.

"Good," said Knuckles with a nod. "Have a safe journey."

As Knuckles returned to his duties, Miles took to the sky in his super form with Amy in his arms. For some reason the girl was looking crestfallen during the flight, which worried the boy because she usually really likes this.

"What's wrong?" said Miles as he glanced at his friend.

"I'm sorry," said Amy, remorsefully. This caused the fox to give a "huh?" as a response. "I broke the hammer you gave me when we were fighting Knuckles. I'm really sorry."

"Amy..." Miles sighed in a mixture of relief and frustration. Here he was thinking something bad might have happened. Well... to Amy, it was bad. "It's just a hammer. I can always make you a new one if you want. It's replaceable, you're not."

"You mean that, Miles?" said Amy as she stared up at him with a look in her eyes that gave the fox a strange sense of déjà-vu.

"Y-yeah," said Miles, feeling nervous for some reason. "I gave you that hammer so that it could protect you. Not the other way around."

"Awwww, Miles," said Amy sweetly before pecking the boy on the cheek. As luck would have it, bad luck that is, the fox went stiff and his fur returned to its normal yellow-orange color as his cheeks felt like they were burning up. Of course this meant that the two were now plummeting to the ocean below. "AWWWW, MILES!"

A/N: I know that Tails abilities of being able to use the Chaos Emeralds and Super Emeralds are reversed in the game, but that just doesn't make sense to me. How is it he can harness the power of the Super Emeralds (which are much more powerful) when he's unable to use the Chaos Emeralds?

Yeah, I made up the drawbacks for using the hyper form. What can I say? I needed a reason for why the characters won't be using them so much in future chapters.

Next up is the Adventure series.